Go to your room or is it the doghouse?

I have a question. Does anyone know when the exact moment a pet becomes one of the children?

Is it at the very beginning, when your eyes meet across the shelter floor and you both know you were meant to be together?

Or is it when you give up the blanket on your side of the bed because you don’t want to disturb her slumber?

I know, it is when she isn’t feeling well and you sleep on the floor next to her to make sure she is OK.

Our dog, Maggie, is my sixth “daughter.” I first met her when she was a puppy. She was sitting on the side of the road. I swear she was waving at me with her little paw. I knew I needed to keep going, but I turned around anyway. She had me pegged from the moment we met.

In many ways, Maggie and my youngest daughter are very much alike. Maggie loves to lie on her carpet with her front paws crossed while watching television – very much like my daughter on the couch with her arms crossed while watching televison.

They both love to lie all over me when I am reading or working on needlework. They both insist I scratch their backs and they are very adamant about it. I don’t think either one of them will accept “NO” for an answer.

They have to be the center of attention in my world. If my daughter gets to me first, Maggie is right there tugging on my hand. And vice versa.

They are both scared to death of high winds and heavy thunderstorms. And they both hog the blankets when they are hiding under the covers on my bed, leaving me to sleep sitting up.

When they are sick, they both look at me with the “booboo kitty” face, telling me without words that they need a warm blanket, the remote and someone to kiss them on the forehead to make it all better.

I don’t know when a pet becomes one of the children. But I will tell you, Maggie could become my favorite if she would just do the dishes and clean up her sister’s room.

Do you have a special pet in your life? I want to know. Post a comment or e-mail me at mjzdesigns@yahoo.com.
(This article originally printed in the Hickory Daily Record on December 2, 2008.)